Back to basics

Caroline Waldegrave of Leith's School of Food and Wine says that every cook should be able to make shortcrust pastry, joint a chicken and whip up a sauce. She begins her special series with the secret of perfect pastry

CAROLINE WALDEGRAVE together with Prue Leith, set up Leith's School of Food and Wine in Notting Hill in 1975 and has owned it since 1994. New pupils at the school are started off with the basics, and at home, too, she made sure that her four children are familiar with them. 'Everyone should know how to make shortcrust pastry, joint a chicken and make some simple sauces,' says Waldegrave. 'These are essential basic skills. Learning them will give you the courage to attempt things you thought you couldn't do.'

An essential skill: pastry-making with Caroline Waldegrave

Basic method

There are many different kinds of pastry. All of them are made from a mixture of flour and liquid, and most of them contain fat. Variations in quantities and in the ingredients themselves give each type its distinctive texture and taste. In the case of shortcrust pastry, the degree of shortness (or crisp crumbliness) depends on the amount and the type of fat incorporated into the flour (the more fat, the shorter the pastry), and the way in which the uncooked pastry is handled. Always use plain, all-purpose flour. Butter makes a crisp, rich shortcrust pastry with excellent flavour. Lard makes a very short, rather tasteless pastry but gives excellent results when used in combination with butter (see recipe below). As a general rule, the less liquid used in pastry-making the better; shortcrust pastry needs very little.

Related Articles

Even if the flour has no lumps, sift it with a pinch of salt to incorporate air and give the pastry lightness.

Rubbing in

While you rub the fat into the sifted flour, everything should be kept as cool as possible. If the fat melts, the finished pastry may be tough, so cut the fat straight from the refrigerator (it should be firm and cold but not hard) into tiny pieces; flour your fingers to prevent the fat from sticking to them and beginning to melt. The smaller the pieces of fat, the better the chances of an even distribution. Add the fat to the sifted flour in the mixing bowl, then pick up a few pieces of floury fat and plenty of flour between the fingertips and thumb of each hand. Hold your hands about 25cm (10in) above the bowl and gently and quickly - between fingers and thumbs - rub the little pieces of fat into the flour. Dropping the floury flakes of fat back into the bowl from a height cools and aerates the fat, helping to make the finished pastry light. Do this repeatedly - shaking the bowl regularly so that the big unrubbed pieces of fat come to the surface - until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Adding liquid

The drier and more difficult to handle the pastry is, the crisper the shortcrust will be. Make sure the water is very cold and add just enough to make sthe pastry hold together, sprinkling it, one teaspoon at a time, over as large a surface as possible. For simple shortcrust you will need about 11?2 tablespoons per 100g (4oz) of flour. Mixing should be kept to a minimum, and you should use a fork or a knife so that you handle the pastry as little as possible. As soon as it holds together in lumps, stop mixing. Lightly flour your hands and quickly and gently gather the lumps into a ball, rolling it around the bowl to pick up crumbs.

Relaxing

Pastry must chill or 'relax' for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before you roll it out. This allows starch cells to swell and absorb the liquid evenly. Relaxed pastry will not shrink drastically or unevenly as just-made pastry will.

To prevent the surface of the pastry from drying out and cracking in the dry atmosphere of the refrigerator, cover it lightly with clingfilm or with a damp cloth. To roll the pastry, lightly dust the work surface with flour. Do not use much, as this can alter the proportion of flour to the other ingredients. Roll with short, sharp strokes, turning the pastry through 90 degrees every so often to prevent it from sticking to the work surface. Continue until you have a sheet that will overhang the edge of the metal flan ring by 2.5cm (1in) all round. Lift the pastry on to the rolling pin and lay it over the ring. Press it gently into the corners of the ring and roll off the overhang with a rolling pin. Allow the pastry to relax in the fridge for another 30 minutes before baking.

Baking

To bake the pastry blind (that is, without a filling), line the raw pastry case with a piece of kitchen foil or a double sheet of greaseproof paper and half-fill with dried lentils, beans, rice, ceramic baking beans (£2.95 for 500g, Lakeland, 01539 488100), even pebbles or coins. This is to prevent the pastry from bubbling up during cooking. After about 15 minutes, when it is half cooked, remove the foil and beans and return the pastry case to the bottom shelf of the oven until it is dry and sandy in texture (about five minutes). It is now ready to be filled. Pastry can, of course, be made in a food processor using the pulse button. Do not, however, be tempted

to make it in a liquidiser as the resulting pastry would be very tough and crisp. This is a quicker, simpler method of making pastry than by hand, but it is very easy to add too much water. Put the flour, cubed cold fat and pinch of salt into the processor. Using the pulse button, whizz intermittently until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cold water and pulse briefly. It should form pea-sized lumps. If the pastry makes a ball in the machine it is too wet. To avoid this you might find it easier to mix in the water by and (see above). Finish by bringing the pastry together into a ball on a lightly floured work surface.

Simple shortcrust pastry (makes enough for a 20cm/8in flan)

Uncooked shortcrust pastry freezes well, so it is a good idea to make twice as much as you need and freeze half of it. To make sweet shortcrust pastry - for puddings such as lemon meringue pie - mix in one tablespoon of caster sugar before adding the water.

170g (6oz) plain flour

pinch of salt

55g (2oz) butter

30g (1oz) lard

very cold water

For a more detailed description of the techniques, cross-refer with the basic method given above.

Sift the flour with the salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub the butter and the lard into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add two tablespoons of water to the mixture and mix with a knife until the pastry holds together in lumps. It may be necessary to add more water, but make sure the pastry does not get too damp. Lightly flour your hands and gently gather the pastry into a ball.

Relax the pastry, wrapped, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Leek and bacon flan with mustard (serves four)

This flan is delicious, strong flavoured and fantastically rich. There is no egg white in the filling, so it will be much creamier than a conventional quiche. For a more quiche-like set, use one whole egg and one egg yolk in place

of the two yolks. The recipe can be adapted to make a rich onion tart by substituting finely chopped onions for the leeks. Serve it with a green salad and a glass of full-bodied red wine.

shortcrust pastry made with 170g (6oz) flour, as above

15g (1?2oz) butter

the white part of 5 small or 3 large leeks, washed and finely chopped

55g (2oz) rindless bacon, chopped

2 egg yolks

150ml (1?4pint) double cream

good quality coarse-grain mustard

parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Roll out the pastry and line a 20cm (8in) flan ring. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Bake the pastry case blind for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven then reduce the temperature to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3.

Melt the butter in a frying-pan and cook the leeks until fairly soft. In a second pan, fry the bacon in its own fat until it begins to brown. Drain well. Mix together the egg yolks and cream. Add the leeks and bacon. Season carefully. Spread a fairly thick layer of mustard on the base of the flan and then pour in the filling. Sprinkle it evenly with parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Leith's School of Food and Wine will be running a one-day pastry workshop on 27 June. For details telephone Viv Pidgeon on 020-7229 0177.